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This paper provides a review of research related to disparities in educational outcomes for African American students in the United States and research-based practices for closing the educational achievement gap. The paper presents National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data trends documenting the historic and persistent disparities in educational outcomes among African American students and other student groups. The author reframes the problem of disparities in educational achievement as an issue of unequal opportunity to learn (a longstanding "opportunity gap" in the U.S.) in an effort to help stakeholders understand issues related to racial disparities in educational achievement and practices for creating more equitable schools, an essential investment in the academic and life trajectories of African American students. Promising practices from high-performing, largely African American, low-income schools are discussed.
As a professor of teacher education, every quarter I engage my graduate students in critical discussions about our country's history of, and persistent fight against, inequitable education. I teach a social foundations course, and we explore education in the United States as it currently exists and possibilities for improving schools in ways that will provide historically marginalized students access to quality education-an education to which they are entitled. I am fortunate to serve as a faculty member at an institution whose mission is rooted in developing leaders "for a more just and humane world." That means my faculty colleagues and I teach to the expectation that our graduates will use the knowledge and skills gained in their education studies to work for justice and a more equitable world. Therefore, in our teacher education program, we spend a significant amount of time trying to understand and dismantle the systems and structures in schools that consistently deny African American, Latino, Native American, low-income students, and many other marginalized groups, access to quality education.
The National Center for Educational Statistics (2013) defines the educational achievement gap simply-"the achievement gap occurs when one group of students outperforms another group, and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant" (p.210). The disparity in achievement is usually between white and non-white students and the difference can be seen in standardized test scores, grade point averages, graduation rates, and college admission data (National Research Council, 2004). Although...